NASA will return four astronauts to Earth early from the International Space Station due to a medical concern with one of the Crew-11 astronauts. Here's the latest news.
- NASA will return 4 ISS astronauts home early in 1st-ever medical evacuation
- NASA postpones Jan. 8 spacewalk due to 'medical concern' with an astronaut
- ISS astronaut evacuation shouldn't interfere with Artemis 2 moon mission
Latest news on ISS astronaut medical evacuation.
NASA prepares to return 4 astronauts home early
NASA is drawing up plans today to return four Crew-11 astronauts to Earth from the International Space Station earlier than planned due to a medical concern with one of the space travelers. We will have the latest updates as events unfold here.
The Crew-11 astronauts are NASA's Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Japan's Kimuya Yui, and Russia's Oleg Platonov. NASA officials canceled a planned Jan. 8 spacewalk by Fincke and Cardman due to the medical concern, but the agency has not said which of the four astronauts suffered the medical issue out of privacy concerns.
The astronaut who suffered the medical issue is in a stable condition, but NASA does want to return them to Earth where they can receive treatment with better care than the conditions on the ISS allow.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced his decision to bring the Crew-11 astronauts home early on their SpaceX Dragon capsule on Thursday (Jan. 8). The agency is now drawing up plans to both undock the Crew-11 Dragon and splashdown off the Florida coast early, while also accelerating the planned launch of a replacement crew on the SpaceX Crew-12 mission.
The departure of the Crew-11 astronauts will leave NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two cosmonauts, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, on their own on the ISS. Crew-11 launched to the ISS in August 2025, with Williams and crew launching on a Soyuz rocket in November.
Watch this space for more updates on this developing story.
ISS astronaut evacuation won't affect Artemis 2 moon launch
NASA's plan to rturn the four Crew-11 astronauts home early from the International Space Station and accelerate the launch of their replacement team, Crew-12, from Florida should not impact the agency's plans to also launch another crew of astronauts to the moon in February.
NASA chief Jared Isaacman said Thursday that NASA's Artemis 2 mission, which will launch four astronauts around the moon, will remain on track to launch in early February. The mission will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center, where SpaceX will also launch the Crew-12 astronauts. The Crew-11 astronauts will also have to splashdown off the Florida coast before then.
"These would be totally separate campaigns at this point," Isaacman said during a Jan. 8 press conference to provide an update on NASA's decision to end Crew-11 early. "There's no reason to believe at this point in time that there'd be any overlap that we have to deconflict for."
You can read the full story here by Staff Writer Josh Dinner.